Actions

Las Vegas man indicted for having items to make pipe bombs

Copyright 2017 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

A man has been indicted after police found items to make pipe bombs in his home while he was on probation for a stalking conviction.

According to court documents filed Wednesday, Timothy La was indicted this week for possession of a component of an explosive or incendiary device with intent to manufacture an explosive or incendiary device, along with violating the protective order and ownership of firearms by a prohibited person.

Las Vegas police initially responded to La's home on May 26 after receiving a report that he violated a protective order. The protective order was in place for a prior stalking conviction in California.

While at the residence, police found he had several cardboard firearm targets in the kitchen area, along with a box of ammunition. La initially told police that the firearms belonged to his family as he is not allowed to possess firearms with his probation.

Eventually, La was detained and police found more handguns and ammunition. Another officer arrived and found two items consistent with improvised explosive devices or pipe bombs.

While he was being interviewed, La told police he had intended to build a homemade "pipe shotgun."

Due to the presence of two improvised explosive devices, police evacuated neighboring residences. Las Vegas police K9 officers eventually determined there were no live explosives present.

La told police he had "no ill intentions" in reference to the pipe devices. He understood why detectives were concerned but told police he didn't know how to build bombs and said the pipe devices were a "hobby thing." He also told police he bought shotgun shells because he was curious, despite the gunpowder inside that can be used in pipe bombs.

While being interviewed by police, La said comments such as "I love you guys, I'm not going to bomb you guys."

After his arrest, police said La made a phone call to his mother where he made comments such as, "These people are not our friends, they don't like us, they are nothing," referring to police. He also said, "I'm done with this f------ country."

Police were concerned about his statements due to his previous stalking conviction, which also included a charge for making terroristic threats. Police said while in California in 2015, he had sent 30,000 messages to a woman over a few months time, including "I will kill all of you and ruin all of your families if I have to."

Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.